


“Remmé Hileagh, Fourth Handmaiden in the Second Class for Padmé Amidala”

by Polgarawolf



Series: Star Wars: You Became to Me [10]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: F/F, F/M, Handmaidens, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), POV Original Character, Sacrificial ethics, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-10-03
Updated: 2007-10-03
Packaged: 2017-11-13 07:15:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/500874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polgarawolf/pseuds/Polgarawolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is fifteen random but chronological moments from the life of Remmé Hileagh, who is, quite literally, the fourth handmaiden in the second training class of potential handmaidens chosen from among a large pool of applicants for the job for the newly elected Nabooian Queen Padmé Amidala. There is an actual story here – one small thread among the vast woven tapestry of life that is the living history of the galaxy, stretched out and twisted, knotted into the whole, curled down among the roots of time, connecting various moments together – but one must read between the lines to capture it. It is not precisely the truth, for the subtle story of these moments is sketched out here in words, and, in the sin of writing down a life, it inevitably changes the shape of things. But it is nevertheless a form of truth. (From a certain point of view . . . )</p>
            </blockquote>





	“Remmé Hileagh, Fourth Handmaiden in the Second Class for Padmé Amidala”

**Author's Note:**

> **Warning:** This story functions as a sort of compressed codex for Remmé Hileagh’s life, as she is going to be written (or at least referred to) in my not even nearly complete AU **Star Wars** series **_You Became to Me_**. If anything doesn’t make sense, please feel free to ask!
> 
>  **Author’s Notes: 1.)** Again, for anyone interested, this not-quite-a-story is compatible with my SW AU series **_You Became to Me_** , including the trilogy _Thwarting the Revenge of the Sith_ , if you squint at a couple of things sideways and view a few others solely through the lens of Remmé Hileagh’s eyes. **2.)** Although this is technically modeled on a prompt set that I borrowed from somewhere or another on the LJ (I really don’t recall from where anymore, precisely, though if someone would like to set the record straight, I’ll add the info for the community in question here in my notes), it’s not really meant to function as a response to whatever the challenge actually is that’s associated with said LJ prompt set. I just used the specific prompts to give me a reason to string together a backstory of sorts for Remmé. **3.)** Readers might want to consider the fact that Remmé, like a lot of native Nabooians, is fairly strong in the Force, but that she hasn’t received any training whatsoever to speak of and so has no real conscious control over that sensitivity to the Force. **4.)** Readers interested in knowing who the physical models are for original characters like Remmé should please consult the latest versions of my posted lists of cast original and EU characters and for handmaid(en)s and other important Nabooian characters, which are available on my LJ! For clarity's sake, though, please keep in mind that Remmé is physically modeled on a teenaged Haley Ramm. Also, please note that characters who may be alluded to but not referenced by name (certain family members of original characters, for example) are considered too minor to be cast at this time, and readers should feel free to imagine them howsoever they wish! **5.)** Handmaidens often tend to pair off, as is the case here (which is why I added the relationship label for original female characters), for Remmé Hileagh and Zoé Maurello, a fellow handmaiden from the same training class. **6.)** Speaking of pairings, I've labeled this to indicate both Padmé Amidala's and Sabé's love for Obi-Wan, because, even though it may not be specifically mentioned in this character study piece, handmaid(en)s know so much about their sworn Lady that readers can be certain that Remmé, like all of Amidala's other handmaid(en)s who knew him (or knew of him), would have surely known about both their Lady's and Sabé's love and high regard for Obi-Wan, just as they would have known about how much Amidala and Sabé love one another!
> 
>  **Story Notes:** **1.)** Since this is part of a larger on-going AU series that in some respects fairly closely mirrors or follows events of canon (up to a certain point, anyway), readers should please keep in mind that certain characters and events from the prequel movies/novelizations of the films and even events/places/people referenced in the EU or Expanded Universe may be mentioned or alluded to in this story. If anyone has any questions about whether someone or something is AU, canon, or EU canon, please feel free to ask! **2.)** Readers should probably be aware that I am roughly estimating (guestimating might be a better word) the original publication date for most of the character study pieces in the **_You Became to Me_** series (and indeed most of my stories, especially the ones written over a long period of time), based on when I roughed out notes for them in the story notebooks I carry everywhere with me and when I can recall having worked on certain groups of characters. The year is going to be accurate, but the month might be off and the day will almost certainly be randomly chosen, since the online account I had originally posted many of these stories to no longer exists. I tend to go back and edit things that are in series whenever I get the time or a new idea causes me to have to make room for something else plot-wise, and odds are good that a story could have been edited for typos as recently as the day of its posting here, but the original version will likely be much older and fairly close to the publication date that I attach to it, if anyone's curious!

**“Remmé Hileagh, Fourth Handmaiden in the Second Class for Padmé Amidala”**

 

 **01.) Ward:** Her eyes are undeniably blue and her hair has some red (enough to be noticeable in direct light) in amongst the brown and is almost entirely naturally straight; her general height and build and, most importantly, the shape of her face is very like that of the new Queen, though, and the prospect of advancement or of at least a secure position in a noble household is so much better than anything else she could rationally expect, as a ward of the state fostered by a family who surely loves her (and all of her five fellow fosterlings, too) but can only just afford all of the necessities and a few extraneous comforts and luxuries for everyone, and so she jumps at the chance to apply to become a handmaiden for Padmé Amidala.

 **02.) Pinch:** The new Queen is incredible – brave and smart and funny and full of compassion as well as beautiful and effortlessly charismatic – and she keeps having to pinch herself, to make sure she isn’t dreaming, because she could easily love this girl and devote the whole of her life to making her safe and happy, and she can’t help but be stunned at how strong a sense of loyalty someone so blind and deaf to the Force can so easily evoke in her.

 **03.) Eerie:** There are dozens of tiny little details that differentiate Amidala from Sabé, and so she finds it both a little eerie and somewhat reassuring (given how different she and several of the other potential handmaidens appear to be from the Queen), how very similar the two can seem and how effortlessly they can trade places and trick others into not noticing it.

 **04.) Train:** There are ways in which to train an utterly loyal, coherent force of fighters and guardians who (while perhaps lacking in some higher cognitive functions) can still perform gentler duties, she knows – she’s aware of methods used to break individuals down and rebuild them in the image of coolly professional killers: one of her more experimental and well-taught classes at university dealt primarily with tactics of solider making and of cult brainwashing and with the various strengths and limitations of different kinds of fighting forces and of diverse methods of dehumanization and inculturation – just as there are also ways of inspiring loyalty and desire to be more and to be capable of doing more, as both an individual and as a member of a fully functional team – methods more inspired by inciting a sense of shared faith than by performing brute tasks of psychological breaking down, stripping away, and rewiring – and she’s both pleased and relieved to discover that their training largely seems to be based on or else derived from the latter set of principles.

 **05.) Brown:** With the exception of the principal handmaidens in the first training class (five young women who were handpicked by the Queen and recruited from amongst her friends and political allies), all of the training classes are ordered (at least to start out with) by age, and the seventh girl in their training class – Zoé Maurello – has such incredibly soulful brown eyes that, every time she finds those dark eyes turned towards her, she feels a kind of unmistakable thrill that lets her know, without any doubt, that she is enjoying the attention far too much for any mere little measly crush.

 **06.) Prospect:** The careful, almost shy glances of open, easy fascination give way gradually to obvious looks of longing and finally of smouldering heat, until finally she can’t stand it any longer and (despite her skittishness at the prospect of entering into a serious relationship under such potentially dangerous circumstances, especially given that there exists a distinct possibility that what she’s in training for may require that she eventually sacrifice any such relationship, if she wishes to stay in service. She’s really not sure how the new handmaiden program is going to work or if those responsible for recruiting trainees even know exactly where they’re heading with the program, either. Vows have been mentioned, to be sure, but then, in the old days, with chosen companions, those who took such vows worked in pairs, so . . . there’s really no clear answer, leaving her with no choice but to either be a coward or be brave enough to follow her heart and take a chance) intersects look and body and all with an inviting smile, open (and strongly grasping) arms, and a mouth poised for kissing.

 **07.) Recommendation:** Dané Cashillé is the only member of their training class not found by the giving of an application but rather directly submitted as a hopeful to the Queen herself via a personal recommendation and an interview arranged by her first cousin, Yané Cashillé – a slip of a girl among the principal handmaidens with a talent for jewelry and costume design and an almost eerily spot on ability to mimic others who acts as Sabé’s backup, as decoy for the Queen, despite Amidala’s protests that, at barely thirteen, she is far too young for such duties, because she is just **so** very good at it that occasionally even Amidala will mistake her for Sabé – but her obvious zeal for all things relating to politics and her patent **rightness** for the position makes it impossible to envy her or her elevated station, as the most obvious choice from their training class for decoy duty (despite her flame-red hair and emerald-green eyes), and she is (to be honest) a little relieved to find that Zoé shares her opinion on that and wishes to essentially throw in behind Dané, as Nanné Maranno has already done, to help consolidate the strength of their training class where it currently can do the most good and so should most be.

 **08.) Water:** She does not bother to hide her horror of or her distrust and dislike of Essé Seltrin – the blue-eyed harlot is a user, plain and simple, and there’s something in the way she seems to gloat over and delight in the failures and shames and even the pain of the other trainees that both makes her skin want to crawl straight off of her body and makes her fairly certain that there’s something seriously not right in that girl’s head – any more than she bothers to disguise her admiration for Nanné, her love of Zoé, or her respect and devotion for and to the Queen, and so she just smiles when Sabé remarks that she is as transparent and as powerful and potentially deadly as water, taking it for the compliment that she’s sure the Queen’s decoy means it to be.

 **09.) Loner:** Nanné believes that Essé will be less dangerous and that they will be able to keep a closer eye on her so long as she remains unaware of just how wise the rest of the training class is to her true nature, and Remmé has to admit that it makes sense, so she remains openly wary and disdainful of Essé without ever speaking publicly of a reason for such behavior while everyone else simply seems to accept the loner in their midst as normal, and things go on fairly peacefully in their consolidating group afterwards, with Essé seemingly suspecting nothing but that she apparently rubs Remmé (and only her) specifically the wrong way. 

**10.) Behavior:** The Trade Federation’s boldness puzzles her to the point where she has a hard time believing that it truly **is** the Trade Federation’s leaders and their will that’s guiding the Trade Federation’s increasingly obviously unlawful and more and more openly threatening actions towards Naboo, and it comforts her a great deal to know that she’s not the only one among the handmaiden trainees who’s confused by their behavior.

 **11.) Afford:** Her foster family has problems making ends meet as it is – they can’t really afford to just pack up and go into hiding somewhere in the country for some unspecified period of time – but then, they can’t afford to risk the lives of their other fosterlings, either, and don’t want to take any unnecessary risks (especially not when she – technically a member of the Queen’s court and therefore positioned to know if there’s a serious threat of danger – has been telling them that they need to get out of Theed and go to ground somewhere safe as quickly as possible), so in the end she’s finally able to persuade them (after many reassurances of the Queen’s largesse that she desperately hopes will still prove true, after all the suffering and loss that has been and still is being engendered by the blockade of their planet by the Trade Federation) to flee to a safe house, just in case the Trade Federation proves foolish enough to try to overthrow the Queen by force.

 **12.) Snap:** She’s so stunned by the presence of droid armies among the Trade Federation’s arsenal that it takes Zoé screaming her name to snap her out of her shock enough to get her to start moving; yet, once she starts running and firing her blasters, she doesn’t stop until those of them who are able (and willing, unlike the traitors who’ve turned against them and their Queen) to do so have all made it safely away, for she knows, instinctively, that she cannot stop running, now that she’s started, and she cannot run the risk of letting anyone else get captured, either, as things are likely going to get far worse, now, than she ever suspected that they might, and that Amidala and Naboo both are going to need all of the able-bodied fighters free and armed and ready to fight that they can possibly get.

 **13.) Blur:** Everything runs together in a blur of too much danger and not enough sleep or food or safety to really relax, and, later on, when the crisis is past, she’ll have a hard time believing that only eighteen days elapse between the day the Trade Federation and their droid armies invaded, with Amidala fleeing with a handful of chosen guardians and two Jedi to try to get to Coruscant and report to the Senate on that unlawful invasion and occupation, and the day upon which the Queen will return to the planet with that same handful of companions and two Jedi, plus one very small former slave boy and a desperate (and insanely lucky) plan to retake their world.

 **14.) Fear:** Attempts to retaliate against Amidala (for successfully taking Naboo back from the Trade Federation’s greedy grasp and attempting to see that the Trade Federation’s Viceroy and others most responsible for the various crimes committed against the populace during the occupation are all properly punished for their evil deeds) begin almost as soon as the Trade Federation and those damned droids are off of the planet, and Remmé seriously beings to fear that they will lose their Queen to either an assassin’s blaster or a turncoat’s bomb, despite the fact that, before, not even the presence of a Sith Lord on Naboo had proven able to lay her low.

 **15.) Telltale:** She sees the telltale movement of a hand reaching beneath a coat and the betraying glimmer of light off of the metal casing of what appears to be an incendiary device (thankfully quite tiny and, luckily, therefore also an extremely small range explosive – either some kind of detonator she’s unfamiliar with or else some sort of homemade grenade) out of the corner of her eye, and, knowing (instinctively) that there’s no way to take the suspect down before the trigger can be activated or the Queen safely shielded or moved fully out of range, she does the only thing that she can, screaming out, “Bomb!” as she throws herself – and also Zoé, whose hand immediately clamps down on her right wrist with such painful intensity that she knows her love is coming along for this ride whether she’d like her to do so or not – bodily at the would-be assassin, smiling bravely as she leaps towards her and her beloved’s deaths . . . and the continued life of their sworn lady and Queen.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Clarification Note:** One of the reasons why my AU **Star Wars** series _**You Became to Me**_ is so entirely not even nearly complete has to do with the fact that I really started writing at the wrong end of the prequel trilogy for an AU (in my defense, though, when I started what became my _Thwarting the Revenge of the Sith_ trio, which is over a million words long, I thought I was doing a sort of one-shot fix-it based on an idea I got for "fixing" RotS by changing something that happens very near the end of James Luceno's EU novel _Labyrinth of Evil_ , which is set immediately prior to RotS). One of these days, I fully intend to rectify that problem by going back and starting from the beginning, with an AU rewrite of TPM, which is why I took the time to do a character study sketch for a supporting character like Remmé. She'll be showing up again, in a more prominent role, whenever I get around to that AU rewrite of TPM. Folks might want to keep that in mind when reading this, since technically this is spoilerish for an AU novel that I haven't gotten around to writing yet!


End file.
